REVIEW: Letters to Cleo reunion at Paradise

Sunday

Nov 19, 2017 at 5:37 PMNov 20, 2017 at 7:17 AM

jaymiller

It was back to the 1990s for a fairly large contingent of Boston rock fans over the past weekend, as Letters to Cleo took over the Paradise Rock Club on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The added hook was the band would be playing its three albums on each of the three nights, starting with their 1993 debut “Aurora Gory Alice” on Thursday, 1995′s sophomore album “Wholesale Meats and Fish” on Friday and then ending with their “Go” album on Saturday.

It was an impressive turnout for a band that officially broke up in 2000, but there have been several recent reunions, and as singer Kay Hanley noted Friday, the impending release of those classic '90s albums on vinyl has led to this current reunion.

Friday night's edition was nearly sold out and offered better than 90 minutes of the band's unique combination of Kay Hanley's sweetly chiming vocals over the whipsaw guitars and pounding rhythms that were a little bit garage rock, a little bit heavy metal, and little bit grunge, and more than a little bit of punk rock. Parking in the area was a nightmare Friday, owing to construction in the area and a sold out show at the nearby Agganis Arena, so we arrived late to the concert, but from the music we did hear Letters To Cleo was in vintage form.

One aspect that always limited the band back in its heyday was that the thunderous music too often obscured Hanley's vocals. Her later solo work has delved more into softer, Americana type formats, which allows for more appreciation of her songwriting and voice. But if you hadn't primed yourself with those epic albums from the '90s, and knew all the songs by heart, it could often be difficult to figure out what she was singing about because she was just lost in the sound mix, and that problem popped up a few times Friday night too. The contrast between the heavy music and Hanley's vulnerable and expressive voice is one of the major factors that made LTC so appealing, and it must be a bear to balance it.

But for the nearly 1000 fans crowding the Paradise Friday night, that was a minor quibble and the throng–mostly 30-and-40-somethings, greeted every tune with obvious adoration. Noting that her bandmates, and especially (ex-husband) guitarist Michael Eisenstein are intelligent people who frequently “have an answer for everything,” Hanley, in black jeans and a grey and white Cheap Trick tee shirt, introduced “He's Got An Answer” from that '95 album. The tune was kind of a grungy rocker, where Hanley's plaintive vocals worked as delectable counter point. Concluding the “Wholesale Meats and Fish” portion of the show, LTC did “I Could Sleep” which worked a slower, midtempo vein, but sort of never took off.

After a very brief break, LTC came back to do ten more songs under the 'fan favorites' monicker, starting with the frenetic rocker “Mellie's Coming Over.” But a bit later, the tempo may have been even faster for a frenzied charge through “Four Leaf Clover,” where the guitar lines from Eisenstein and Greg McKenna were as torrid as Boston rock has ever heard. Following that, “Because of You” sounded restrained, even though it was by any other measure a serious rocker. But the throbbing intensity of “I'm a Fool” again pointed up the power of the LTC lineup, anchored by drummer Stacy Jones and bassist Joe Klompus (as original bassist Scott Riebling opted out of this reunion).

There was more than a little irony in McKenna playing a quick “Walk This Way” quote before the band kicked off their '94 hit “Here and Now,” for LTC's guitar attack certainly does have some Aerosmith echoes, and that tune is surely one of the most invigorating blasts of hard rock from that decade. LTC ended their Friday night show with a fast-paced, utterly joyful cover of Cheap Trick's “I Want You to Want Me,” and as they left to a loud ovation it was obvious these reunions can continue as often as the band desires.